What's new in 2018?

The answer is.........not too much.    We have settled in to a nice routine and have really been enjoying the slower pace of the season.   Less scheduled activities means more family time at home with popcorn and books and movies.   I really treasure the lazy Saturdays because I know Spring will be here before we know it and I'm not ready to even begin to think of Susannah being a second grader.  The girls have started swim lessons which they are both enjoying, but other than that, we have been pretty boring.   Here are the pictures of our January.......

I always forget to take pictures whenever we spend time with friends, and this is a horrible one.   But there are 4 other families that we spend almost all of our time with and this is all of the kids (11 of them) eating lunch during one of our snow days.   The kids are friends, the adults are friends.    These people are one of the things I'm most thankful for during this season of our lives.  

In other news, we finally took the girls to my absolute favorite restaurant as a child.......Red Lobster!   And these faces pretty accurately describe how they felt about the cheddar biscuits.   

The past two Saturdays have been mild and sunny so we have headed down to Old Town to soak up the rays and feed the ducks.  

And since most sane ducks are somewhere farther south, when I say ducks, I really mean seagulls and pigeons.  

These Daniel Tiger loving girls are all about the free trolley in old town so we always ride when we are down there. 

Last weekend, we took advantage of the mild weather and grilled some burgers to eat outside.   We also had s'mores and Peter and the girls used Susannah's new telescope to star gaze for a while after sunset.  

Sarah Avery is growing and learning so much this year at preschool.   She is also very silly.  

Who would know that as a kindergartner Susannah  was scared of the climbing tower?   

Sarah Avery loves her swimming lessons.   

I think it is so hilarious that she has to wear a swim cap.   ;)

Fuzzy slippers?   Check.    Susannah's American Girl Doll instead of her own?   Check.   Backpack full of jewelry for her trip?   Check.   Pretend puppy in a cage?   Check.    She cracks me up on a daily basis.  

Susannah had crazy hair day at school.   I wasn't cool enough to think ahead and buy colored hair spray so we settled on some silly pigtails.   

She wanted a picture of the back too.   

Susannah's daily homework is reading for 20 minutes.   So sometimes I sit with her and read my own book or listen to her read hers.   We snuggle under a blanket and it is always a favorite part of my day.

Sarah Avery is really into the Llama, Llama books lately and these girls always love reading with their Daddy.

This past Saturday was just like the last.......nice clear sunny sky.   After a seafood lunch  (not at Red Lobster despite Susannah's pleas) we walked down to the river.  

This one loves feeding the birds.  

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and playing in the backyard and now it is Monday and we are headed to Susannah's swim lesson. 

We hope that all is well with all of you.   We love and miss you all!